Crises happen. But how they are handled makes all the difference in the world.

It's 2019. A gunman enters Trask International, a suburban Washington, D.C. office, leaving three people dead and dozens injured. One of the biggest differences between this tragedy and \the many others that have unfortunately occurred recently? They were ready for this. Trask International had a comprehensive Crisis Communications plan.

No, the plan didn't deploy bulletproof shields, nor did it call upon a secret superhero to fight off the gunman. But the plan did spell out how the business should respond in public to what happened, keep the focus on the true victims and not position the business as one, and how the business could—and would—get things back to normal as quickly as possible.

Crisis Communications and the Art of Making Nothing Happen is a fast-paced story told in two parts—the first tells the tale of the shooting itself, while the second presents a deep dive into how a business prepares for a crisis. It takes a close look at the teamwork involved with crisis communication planning, and, ultimately, how preparation helps keep a bad situation from getting worse.